The authors differ both on the geographical origin and on the etymology of this surname, which suggests that it could have independent stems of origin (ceppi) in different regions of Italy.

E. De Stefani documents it in the Carnia area —a mountainous region of northern Friuli, in the province of Udine—, with a presence attested from the end of the 15th century in Sutrio, Ovaro and Udine. He rules out the connection with the Friulian tràuli ("a kind of threshing sledge formed by two small beams") as not being in use in the Carnian sphere, and also rejects the link with the surname Sdraulig of the Cividale area. The reading he considers most sustained derives it from the Friulian strangulìn ("long iron lever for moving stones or demolishing walls"), with a phonetic evolution to straulìn, applied as a nickname to stonecutters or bricklayers. De Stefani also notes, as an alternative clue, the term straulìn documented in Clauzetto with the sense of "untidy and unclean person".

V. Blunda, on the other hand, places it in Sicily and proposes an independent dialectal etymology: he derives it from the Sicilian word stràula, which designates a rustic wooden sledge used to transport loads over difficult terrain. As a surname, it would have arisen from a nickname applied to one who made or used that kind of transport.